Trail Alerts

What's happening at ATC and along the Appalachian Trail—items of interest to hikers, ATC members and supporters, volunteer maintainers, managers and other Trail friends.

September-October 2005

“Hike Harpers Ferry” September 24

The ATC will host an information booth at the first “Hike Harpers Ferry” event September 24. This event, for hikers of all ages and levels of experience, is designed to highlight the opportunities for walking and hiking in and around Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Hike Harpers Ferry will include five guided hikes on roads and trails around town. In addition, there will be special exhibits of hiking equipment, techniques, and emergency services in the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Hike Harpers Ferry is sponsored by Harpers Ferry Main Street, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the historic preservation and economic revitalization of Harpers Ferry. Advance registration is encouraged. For additional information, contact Harpers Ferry Main Street at (304) 535-2030.

Where to Find Fall Foliage

ATC's Appalachian Trail Fall Foliage: A Hiker's Guide to Autumn's Peak Colors (PDF) provides an overview of average dates of peak color along the A.T. Colors are just beginning to appear in the northern sections of the Trail, with earliest color in higher elevations. In the south, fall foliage typically peaks from mid- to late October. For the latest color information, check the USDA Forest Service's Fall Colors Web Site, which includes links to local forest reports, live web cams and other resources. The Forest Service's Fall Color Hotline, (800) 354-4595, also provides up-to-date fall color status. Hotline menu tip: The A.T. passes through national forests in the Southern and Eastern regions.

ATC Accepting Applications for 2006 Grants

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy is accepting applications from Trail-maintaining clubs and other affiliated organizations for the 2006 L.L.Bean Grants to A.T. Clubs and Grants for Outreach programs. The L.L.Bean Grants to A.T. Clubs program provides financial support for projects related to Trail and facility construction, Trail maintenance, visitor services, and public education. Grants for outreach funds are available for projects that "reach beyond" traditional A.T.-user groups to youth-at-risk, inner-city residents, senior citizens, minorities, people with disabilities, and residents of communities along the Trail. Guidelines and applications for both programs are available online: L.L.Bean Grants to A.T. Clubs and Grants for Outreach. Applications must be received by October 3, 2005.

July-August 2005

Volunteers Needed for Konnarock Trail Crew

ATC needs volunteers to work and play in the backcountry on ATC’s Konnarock Trail Crew! The crew tackles projects involving trail reconstruction and rock work between the Trail’s Southern terminus, Springer Mountain, Georgia, and Shenandoah National Park in Virginia: just over one half of the Appalachian Trail. The program runs Wednesday to Monday evenings every week until August 15th. Apply today.

Trails Act Sponsor Memorialized July 13

Former Vice President Walter Mondale and most living former Wisconsin governors planned to attend July 13's memorial service at the state capitol in Madison for former U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson.  The lead sponsor of the 1968 National Trails System Act, which designated the Appalachian Trail as the first national scenic trail and brought it within the national park system, died July 3 of cardiac failure at his Maryland home.  He was 89.  The two-term Wisconsin governor lost his Senate seat in the Ronald Reagan landslide in 1980, after 18 years as a leading voice for environmental protection and enhancement.  Senator Nelson also was considered the founder of Earth Day 35 years ago.  A counselor to the Wilderness Society since leaving the Senate, he last visited the A.T. about two years ago.

35th ATC Meeting a Success

The week-long biennial conference of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy at Johnson City, Tennessee, was rated a smooth-flowing success by most of the more than 865 registrants. Almost 60 hikes, covering virtually all of the high-elevation A.T. from Damascus, Virginia, south almost to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, were staged from conference headquarters at East Tennessee State University.  National Park Service Director Fran Mainella opened the conference on the evening of July 2, helping to honor two volunteers who have each given more than a half-century to Trail work and setting the stage for the unveiling of the organization's new logo.  The 15 members of the new board of directors were elected by acclamation July 4.

ATC Launches New Web Site, Membership Magazine

Parallel to the launch of the organization's new name and logo, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy rolled out both a new Web site and a thoroughly revamped membership magazine, A.T. Journeys: The Magazine of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Enhancements to the Web site provide users more streamlined opportunities to support and contribute to the ATC, as well as more accessible information on enjoying the Trail. Future improvements will include easier navigation for the Ultimate Appalachian Trail Store, and e-mail updates on Trail issues and news. The magazine, A.T. Journeys, replaces the Appalachian Trailway News that was distributed by the organization for 66 years. "Both the magazine and Web site have a twofold mandate," said Martin Bartels, ATC’s Director of Marketing and Communications. "We will inform our existing members about our efforts to conserve the Trail experience, and we will enlist new members in the cause. We're very excited about the new design and content, and we believe these will be the primary tools that allow us to engage the widest possible audience-base."

May-June 2005

2006 Appalachian Trail Calendars Now In Stock

For those days when you can't be on the Trail, the 2006 A.T. Calendar is like a window on your wall. Better still, you know that a portion of the proceeds of your purchase go toward conserving the A.T. experience for generations to come. The calendar is now available at the Ultimate A.T. Store.

They're Here! ATC's First GIS-based Hiking Maps

The ATC's first hiking maps produced through its geographic information system (GIS) are now available, developed with the help of volunteers Collins Chew of the Tennessee Eastman Hiking Club, Stewart Holt (GPS-based profiles), and staff members. They cover the Tennessee-North Carolina A.T., from Damascus, Virginia, south to the boundary of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This is also the area for most of the hikes associated with the July 1-8, 2005, 35th meeting of the Conference membership in Johnson City, Tennessee, known as Southern Highlands 2005. Order yours today from the Ultimate A.T. Store.

Southern Highlands 2005: Help Support Local Trails

ATC members attending the biennial conference July 1-8 in Johnson City, Tenn., have a new opportunity to support local trails. A special trail maintenance day is scheduled for Tuesday, July 5, at Buffalo Mountain Park, a 725-acre nature preserve near East Tennessee State University. Transportation to the worksite is available and all tools will be provided. Space is limited, and pre-registration is required: contact ATC's Asheville, N.C., office at (828) 254-3708, or e-mail jjudkins@appalachiantrail.org. Registration information also will be available at the conference.

“Half-Price T-Shirt Sale” is Over

Due to an astonishing response, the “Half-Price T-Shirt Sale” on discontinued colors for certain popular designs—featured on the cover of the spring/summer Ultimate A.T. Store catalogue—is over: We sold out! But, lots of new T-shirts are in stock.

ATC Visitors Center Offers Extended Seasonal Hours

The ATC visitor center—located on the first floor of our Harpers Ferry, W.Va., headquarters building—is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekends and holidays from May 14 through the end of October. Year round, the center is open to the public Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Young Man Dies in Fall near Trail in Virginia

Early Saturday morning over the Memorial Day weekend, an 18-year-old man from nearby Berryville, Virginia, apparently fell 75 feet down a cliff as he and several friends were making their way back to their campsite near the Virginia state line, West Virginia State Police said. The area appears on Trail maps as Crescent Rock/Raven Rocks. Michael Baldoni was lifted out from the bottom of the cliff by a Maryland police helicopter crew but was pronounced dead of severe head trauma once they reached a Virginia hospital.

House Subcommittee Hits Land Acquisition (Again)

For the third consecutive spring, the House interior appropriations subcommittee has approved a bill drastically cutting back funds for federal land acquisition in the fiscal year that begins October 1. Its parent committee's chair told it to go 2.2 percent below current funding for Interior Department and other environmental programs, the largest hit for any of the 11 budget areas. The subcommittee this week proposed $43 million for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), compared to $132 million requested by the Bush administration and the $255 million appropriated for the current fiscal year. The House committee last year proposed only $50 million, having failed in 2003 to limit it to $25 million. The LWCF—the primary source of funds to buy strips of surrounding land to protect the Appalachian Trail since 1978—was created in 1964 with an authorized (but never appropriated) level of $900 million a year. Although the subcommittee has eight Trail-state members, including Chairman Charles H. Taylor of North Carolina, ATC and other supporters of the LWCF are looking to the Senate Appropriations Committee to again partly salvage the situation later in the year.

The National Park Service recently completed the New Hampshire part of its A.T.-protection program, but still has to acquire 49 tracts to buffer 6.2 miles of the footpath in other states, primarily Pennsylvania and Maryland; those funds were allocated in 1998. The USDA Forest Service, on the other hand, needs new LWCF or special appropriations to cover the 94 tracts on its list of lands needed to fully surround the A.T. in Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia. In addition, the agencies had proposed funding projects in Maine, Connecticut, and Georgia that are either adjacent to the Trail corridor or would protect lands the hiker would easily see from the A.T., descriptions of which are available from The Wilderness Society. More background about the Land and Water Conservation Fund and budgets is available from the American Hiking Society.

N.C. “Friends of the A.T.” Plates Hit the Road

The North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) this week began mailing out the new Friends of the Appalachian Trail license plates. Supporters who have changed vehicles since they sent in their applications—or who did not fill out the application completely—will be getting a letter soon from the DMV asking for updated information, according to Clark Wright, an ATC member and New Bern, N.C., lawyer who has been bulldogging the process since early 2003. The plates can now be ordered in person at North Carolina DMV offices, and the agency is in the process of updating its Web site to allow online ordering. The more people who sign up for the plate, the more Trail projects in the state will benefit over the years. ATC receives $20 per plate from the special fee for those projects, and one of its partners, the state natural-heritage program, also stands to benefit from personalized versions of the plate. Learn more.

New Roadless-Area Rule Takes Effect

The Agriculture Department this week announced new rules governing the use of millions of acres in national forests classified as “roadless.” About forty percent of the Appalachian Trail is located in eight national forests, and the ATC had opposed the change when it was proposed last fall. Roadless areas generally are candidates for formal designation as wilderness by Congress. The new rule allows governors of states with federally inventoried roadless areas to petition the agriculture secretary during the next 18 months to develop new management practices for roadless areas within the state. Two reasons ATC opposed the new rule were that it assigns too much weight to the states in influencing the management of what, in many cases, represent nationally significant lands and resources and that it could override the more deliberative forest-planning process, rules for which were also changed by the Bush administration this year. More information is available here.